Serial Number L97810

When Fender switched to rosewood fingerboards in 1959, there were many Tele players who still preferred the feel of maple. Fender allowed special-order maple fingerboards as an unofficial option beginning in the early ’60s. Because the machinery at the factory was set up for separate rosewood fingerboards, separate maple fingerboards were installed the same way. This is why a two-piece ’60s maple neck doesn’t have a skunk stripe on the back, or a walnut plug on the headstock like its one-piece ’50s counterpart. Maple fingerboards did become an official option in 1967, and one-piece maple necks were finally reinstated in 1969.